1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illumination apparatus, and more particularly, to a long illumination apparatus used for a store shelf and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a light emitting diode (LED) with lower power consumption has been used as a light source for a long illumination apparatus (a so-called under shelf illumination apparatus) for illuminating a showcase or shelf in a store. In this long illumination apparatus using the LED as the light source, there has been suggested a technique in which a plurality of units divided in a longitudinal direction are connected to configure an integral long illumination apparatus (for example, refer to JP-A-2009-99363). By employing this long illumination apparatus for the under shelf illumination apparatus, operability of attaching the illumination apparatus to the shelf and the like is improved, and it is possible to flexibly adjust a length of the illumination apparatus according to a length of the shelf.
Specifically, FIG. 5 shows the illumination apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2009-99363. The illumination apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 5 includes a plurality of illumination units 111 each of which has a base 102A and a plurality of LEDs 103 arranged on an upper surface 102a of the base 102A. Each illumination unit 111 has a male connector 104A at one end in a longitudinal direction and a female connector 105A at the other end. The plurality of illumination units 111 are electrically connected and are coupled in the longitudinal direction by connecting the male connectors 104A and the female connectors 105A of the adjacent illumination units 111.